How to Maintain Your Backyard Fountain for Extended Life

Having a backyard fountain can make your garden look more beautiful. However, if you do not know how to maintain your backyard fountain, it will not really last long and you end up spending a lot of money on repairs. Furthermore, if you do not clean your fountain regularly, you might end up with a backyard full of mosquitoes and other insects. Note that allowing stagnant dirty water to pool in backyard fountains is like an open invitation for mosquitoes to breed so you need to clean your fountains regularly.

Cleaning Up

You don’t really have to spend a lot of money to clean up your backyard fountain. In fact, if you have some spare time, you can clean a fountain all by yourself. If you clean up your fountains weekly, you will not really have so much trouble getting the dirt out.

When cleaning up your backyard fountains, start by removing the leaves. Use a skimmer basket to scoop the leaves out of the water weekly. Do not allow the leaves to rot into your fountain. According to experts, rotten leaves will cause a lot of damage to your fountain so be sure, take the leaves out from your fountain regularly. Rinse out the filter of the fountain every time you clean and remove debris with the skimmer basket. You need to backwash the pump and filter of your backyard fountain, preferably once a week. Performing pump maintenance can be done quite easily with an old toothbrush, and then take a damp cloth and wipe the inside and outside of the bowl. Note that bacteria, mosquitoes and other organisms tend to breed in the water of your fountain so change the water regularly.

There are many new products on the market today that are environmentally safe and safe for animals and birds. If buying a water treatment to control lime scale or algae for a bird bath fountain, it is very important to read the label. Some products are made specifically for birdbath fountains and are not harmful to our fine feathered friends. Fountain Fresh is a really great product that addresses the issues of algae control, while preventing mosquitoes from laying eggs.

To make sure that your fountain stays in top condition, dry up your fountain at least once a year, clean up all the dirt and debris in the pond and check the motor of your fountain. You may do this during the summer when the temperature is hot. Let the sun dry up your pond completely before you fill it up again with water. When checking the motor of your backyard fountain, make sure that all the circuits are in good working order. If you have no idea how to check the motor of your fountain, ask for help from a professional.

A few keypoints to remember isto clean your fountain regularly between every 2 to 4 weeks. Rinse the pump and clean with a toothbrush. Find a high quality water treatment that will not hurt the animals, and apply according to directions to keep algae and lime scale from growing and keeping your fountain looking new.

Evan Nasseri - About Author:Nancy Clark is the president of fountains Everywhere and Serene Waters which is a blog for Fountains Everywhere, giving gardening tips, fountain care and maintenance, and home decorating tips. For more information about cleaning your backyard fountain, let Serene Waters be your helpful resource.